Why al-Qaida won't take over Iraq

April 9, 2008|James Metcalf, Boca Raton

Sen. John McCain warns that if we remove most combat troops from Iraq within two years, as Sens. Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton propose, al-Qaida will take over their government and Iraq will become a terrorist country.

Let's review the relevant facts. Shiite Muslims make up 60 percent of Iraq's population, Sunni Muslims 20 percent. Shiite Muslims control the government, the military and the police. There are also two large militia groups controlled by Shiite Muslim clerics who are determined to maintain Shiite control of Iraq.

Also, all the oil in Iraq is in areas controlled by the Shiites and the Kurds. Al-Qaida is a Sunni terrorist group, which is losing support of many Sunnis. Al-Qaida in Iraq is not only fighting Americans but is also killing Shiite Muslims and destroying their most revered holy site, thereby reinforcing the ethnic hatred many Shiites have for the Sunnis.

Given the strength and power of the Shiites and that both Obama and Clinton propose leaving American troops in the area to help fight al-Qaida after we redeploy, it is clear that there is no danger that al-Qaida could ever gain control of Iraq.